


The Past Is Now, The Future Is Gone

by 14Doctors



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everyone is tired, F/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Scott Is Just Happy To Be There, Time Travel Fix-It, almost definitely failed, attempt at omniscient writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-02 10:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19197169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/14Doctors/pseuds/14Doctors
Summary: "The four time travellers appeared in an alleyway in a flash of blue light followed by sparks as the watched short-circuited. The four stared at each other in horror as it dawned on them that they were stuck."





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang are in the past and everyone is confused

2012\. The streets of New York were full of broken cars, cement and dead alien bodies. The four time travellers appeared in an alleyway in a flash of blue light followed by sparks as the watches short-circuited. The four stared at each other in horror as it dawned on them that they were stuck.   
“Tony...what was that?” Steve asked his voice high hoping he was wrong. Tony didn’t reply as he fiddled with the watches causing more sparks. He became increasingly frantic while the other three watched with bated breath. After a few minutes, he gave up.  
“Well, I didn’t expect that.” Steve almost frowned at his almost flippant tone but he was used to it and didn’t say anything.   
“So what are we going to do? Are we stuck here?” Scott asked in a panic scanning the area. Bruce and Tony exchanged glances and Tony shrugged.  
“Looks like it.” Silence descended on the group only to be interrupted by a roar and a crash. 

The four looked out and saw Hulk, angry and jumping around, smashing things with no enemies left to fight. Bruce shrank into himself with a wince like he was seeing old photos.   
“Are we still going to grab the stones or...?” Bruce asked. Steve shifted uncomfortably and said what they were all thinking  
“We haven’t got much of a choice here, the time stone might be able to get us back but could we grab it and figure out how it works while avoiding SHIELD, Hydra and the Avengers?” He shook his head before looking each of them in the eye. “We’ll go up to the tower, explain what happened and see if we can talk them into helping us, agreed?” He aimed the last word at Tony who shrugged willing to hand the reins over to Steve for now. With slight awkwardness, the group began the walk.

Avengers Tower was easy to find, standing tall overlooking the city. It was a mess like the rest of the city with A as the only letter left. Steve, Tony and Bruce all felt bittersweet looking up at it, so many good memories and so many bad. Scott, on the other hand, was staring in awe, he hadn’t been in the city when the battle happened, already in jail, and hadn’t gone near it after getting out. As they got closer to the tower the three stopped dead causing Scott to walk straight into Bruce. He stared at them curiously as they watched a group of men in black enter the tower lobby.  
“Who are they?”  
“Hydra, or SHIELD currently”  
“How did you not notice that? They look like bad guys.” Steve and Tony looked at each other before both humming in agreement, they really did.  
“So what are we going to do about it?” Steve shifted into a fighting stance with a determined glare.  
“We’re going to fight them.” Bruce tried to stop them, reminding them that they weren’t supposed to make waves but Steve and Tony weren’t listening both remembering all the damage Hydra had caused them. Scott was willing to do whatever they said, they were the Avengers for god's sake.

They rushed in, Bruce lagging behind slightly, just before the strike team reached the elevator. They turned and stared in confusion at the four of them. Steve threw the first punch and it devolved into chaos. The strike team fought well together and the time travellers were out of practice but stronger and angry. Sitwell tried to calm the situation but was interrupted with a punch to the face from Scott.  
“Hail this.” He smirked before shaking his hand out in pain. The other three rolled their eyes and looked at the aftermath of the fight. The others in the lobby had left the moment the fight began and the strike team lay unconscious on the floor.   
“Tony, is there any rope or something in here?” Tony raised an eyebrow at Steve and shook his head disabling his armour. Steve sighed and turned to Bruce. “Can you stay with them and make sure they don’t leave? Besides, the elevator has a weight limit.” Bruce scowled slightly but nodded anyway. 

The other three headed up the elevator each planning what they were going to say when they got to the top. The ride was too long and too short and soon the doors opened to the penthouse. The Avengers had just apprehended Loki and were walking around collecting the tesseract and sceptre. Natasha was the first to notice them bringing her gun up to them in an instant. They put their hands up as the others turned to them. There was a slight pandemonium as the Avengers talked over the top of each other asking what was happening and accusing Loki. Young Steve shouted over the top shutting everyone up and making both Tony’s roll their eyes. Loki laughed in the background and turned himself into the younger Steve causing Thor to gag him.   
“Who are you and what do you want?” Young Steve asked voice alert and full of righteousness. Even Steve had to roll his eyes at the tone.  
“I’m Steve Rogers, this is Tony Stark and that’s Scott Lang.” He pointed to each of them then gestured behind him. “Bruce Banner is downstairs.” He knew he was being a shit but that just made it funnier. Scott waved awkwardly and Tony smirked. There was a moment of silence followed by more shouting.


	2. Chapter 2

The shouting was once again stopped by young Steve who seemed much more annoyed.   
“Excuse me if I have trouble believing you.” His tone was so energetic and virtuous it made Steve tired just listening to it.  
“You’re excused.” Tony and Scott both laughed while the Avengers just scowled. Steve figured he should probably take it easy on them. “We’re from the future, it was bad and we wanted to fix it.” Young Tony did not like that staring at his future self with annoyance.  
“You’re telling me I get that many wrinkles and grey hairs?” Everyone scoffed or rolled their eyes unsurprised at his vanity. The others turned, with surprising unison given they had just met, to the trio in search of answers.   
“The guy who sent Loki came back with a vengeance, we lost and he killed half the universe.” More shouting from the Avengers this time in horror and confusion. Loki blanched leaning heavily against Thor much to his delight. 

Everyone watched Loki in confusion. Steve winced, they didn’t know that yet and he wasn’t even sure it was entirely correct as Thor had refused to explain how he knew.  
“What do you mean the guy who sent Loki?”   
“His name’s Thanos,” Tony started only to get cut off by Thor’s gasp of horror. “He’s bad news,” He finished. The group all looked at Thor searching for an explanation. Thor was staring blankly at Loki reminding the elder trio of their Thor, drunk and not fully aware of his surroundings.   
“Why, Loki?‘ Thor's voice was low and pained as he stared at Loki imploringly. Loki had since regained control of himself and glared at Thor gesturing at his gag. Thor pulled it off causing Loki to hiss as it pulled against his skin.   
“I didn’t follow him willingly,” Loki hissed, standing close to Thor and glaring heavily.   
“I’m sorry but who and what is Thanos?” Young Steve interrupted not backing down as both Thor and Loki turned to him. Thor took a deep breath holding onto Loki’s arm tightly.   
“Thanos is a mad Titan, the last, he is said to court death and wishes to bring balance to the universe by killing half of it.”   
“How do you kill half the universe?” Clint asked incredulously speaking for the Avengers.   
“With those.” Tony nodded at the sceptre and the tesseract. “And others like them,” he added a moment later. No one seemed to understand except the two Asgardians. Thor stepped back from them dragging an irate Loki with him.

Tony cleared his throat for their attention before continuing.   
“I made these watches so we could travel back to grab the stones within them and bring them back but they seem to have broken.” He waved his wrist at them. Young Tony was very interested and grabbed his watch, taking it off.   
“And who is this,” Natasha asked nodding at Scott. He was annoyed but unsurprised.  
“Scott Lang, the new Ant-Man.” After a moment he added. “Don’t look me up.” 

The dubious looks only got worse at Scott’s addition.  
“Who’s the old ant man?” Tony asked overlapping with Steve who asked,  
“What is ant man?” Scott frowned at Tony having expected him to know Hank but was happy to explain.  
“The first Ant-Man was Hank Pym, a scientist who created particles that enable the user to shrink and grow with enhanced strength.” He smiled at the end of his explanation and went to demonstrate before remembering and grimaced. “We used the particles to travel here so I can’t demonstrate.” 

There was a crash downstairs cutting off anything that might have been said in response to Scott. The older three shared a startled glance and hurried to the elevator. The younger avengers hurried to the other elevator leaving a frustrated hulk to take the stairs. The ride down was antsy as each imagined what they would see when they got downstairs. 

The Hydra agents had begun to wake up and tried to escape. Bruce had knocked a couple out but he hadn’t fought in years and the agents outnumbered him. By the time the trio had reached the ground floor Bruce was on the defensive and Sitwell was on his way out the door. Steve threw his shield at his retreating back knocking him flying. Scott was quick to apprehend him while Tony helped Bruce deal with the others.

The Avengers stepped out their elevator and surveyed the chaos. Tony grumbled about the ever-growing damage to his tower until Clint and Natasha aimed their respective weapons at the older four. The four saw them and sighed but ignored them until the agents were successfully corralled.  
“What are you doing to the S.T.R.I.K.E team?” Natasha asked her voice low and controlled. Scott raised an eyebrow at the second acronym but left the question for the others to answer.   
“They’re Hydra, most of S.H.I.E.L.D is,” Steve responded watching as his younger self and most of the agents paled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy, comments are always appreciated!


End file.
